Fraudsters Are Using Bots to Gain Access to Cryptocurrency Accounts

Cryptocurrency is becoming more valuable by the day. With more and more people investing in it, more people will want to steal it from someone else. That is why secure wallets are essential to have. However, some fraudsters have created bots that will hack into wallets and steal a person’s cryptocurrency. Visit https://immediate-edge.co/ for more information on bitcoin trading.

This post is about the bots currently being used to gain access to other people’s cryptocurrency accounts.

The Apgar’s from Maryland

Dr. Anders Apgar and his family were out for dinner last month when his phone began to ring. However, he didn’t answer. His wife’s phone began to ring, and she decided to answer hers. An automated voice began to speak, claiming to be Coinbase’s security prevention line. It had received notification that there was some suspicious activity on Mrs. Apgar’s account and asked for her to press one to complete the recovery process.

Afterward, Anders Apgar did the same thing on his phone but did not remember manually entering his two-factor authentication code. However, the thing that he did led to his account being locked in less than two minutes. To this day, Apgar has not been able to regain access to his account, which has left him to believe that either most or all of his cryptocurrency has been stolen.

He and his wife have invested in cryptocurrency for many years. Before it was locked, their account had grown to $106,000, mainly held in Bitcoin.

Two-Factor Authentication

The fraudsters that attacked the Apgar’s took advantage of the two-factor authentication. Many people use two-factor authentication as a second level of protection that involves a passcode. This passcode helps guard many crypto accounts, banks, and other ways people can partake in digital transactions.

These new fraudsters are going straight for the two-factor authentication, hoping that people’s fears of their hacked account can be used against them. However, when people fall for this trap, they give the fraudsters what they want. This tool is called the one-time password bot.

The One-Time Password Bot

The one-time password bots are one of the biggest causes of financial loss. However, it is hard to quantify just how bad these attacks are because they are still relatively new. People say that the bots that produce calls are discreet because it creates a sense of urgency for the receiver. This makes the person feel like they need to complete this step to protect their account from fraud.

Also, it is straightforward for these bots to gain trust from the person when they are distracted. The last thing anyone wants is their account to be hacked, so if they can stop it, they will. Additionally, people use their code to protect an account, so the bot plays into this narrative utilizing the person’s code.

These bots began to show up on Telegram last summer. At least six different Telegram channels had more than 10,000 people subscribed to purchase bots. People buy the bots on a monthly subscription basis, but they end up earning a lot more than they have spent initially when they use them.

Once the bot convinces the victim to put in their information, it sends it to the cybercriminal to access the account and take all of the cryptocurrency.

Conclusion

There is no official estimate of how much cryptocurrency has been stolen due to these bots, but it is essential to stay vigilant. Otherwise, you could lose everything that you have invested in.